2/10/09

A lot of times there are some stupid, good, boring, crazy "get to know me quizzes' on Facebook. Some of them ask you crazy things about yourself that no else knows and/or might find interesting. Well, on one of these random quizzes I told my friends that one of the crazy things I do is eat peanuts everyday. I don't think it's crazy, but it is strange. I mean, think about it, everyday I eat a handful or more of salty peanuts. Plus, I eat a lot of walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds and almonds. Never thought about it till I answered that quiz. Even hubby says when we are grocery shopping he is amazed at the the amount of nuts I buy, in bulk, at the store.
Those macadamia nuts are one of my favorites. So buttery, so crisp and so addicting. Why do they have to be so fattening you know? It's bad enough they are so expensive, but why all the calories from something so natural? Speaking of fattening---

These caramel bars are very rich and decadent, so make sure to cut them into candy/bite-sized pieces,. With all the caramel in there they are chew-worthy; you'll be chewing for a while. If you love those sea salt caramels, then you will love these.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Grease a 13 x 9 inch pan, then line it with parchment paper, both side; two pieces overlapping each other (this will help you get bars out; there is caramel in here, so it will be sticky).
In large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and egg; cut in 1/2 cup butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts.
Reserving 2 cups crumb mixture, press remainder firmly on bottom of baking pan.
Bake 15 minutes.
In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt caramels with condensed milk, the other ½ ts of salt, and remaining 1/4 cup butter.
Pour over prepared crust. Top with reserved crumb mixture.
Bake 20 minutes or until bubbly. You need to cool this completely (about 2 hours) before cutting it. It is hard to cut so use a sharp knife. Wetting the knife helps too. Store loosely covered at room temperature.
Makes about 2 dozen + bars.

55 comments:

Those look AMAZING, Dawn. I love salty/sweet chewy things that take forever to finish. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm... You are so bringing these when we finally meet. (Along with the burger, brownies and toffee, of course.)

But, really, I think your cookbook needs to be a salty/sweet themed one. That is your magic touch!

Woman, wanna kill me here? I'm also a nuts for nuts! I like to buy them in the shells and entertein my self unshelling and eating them. But sweet and salty is the way to go. We would be so happy if we were neighbours!

I'm glad I found someone who appreciates nuts as much as I do. Yes, macadamia's are the bomb! I love visiting your blog and learning from your creativity. These bars are amazing. Walgrees also has great prices on cashews and macadamias

Hi, we've never really met. I've lurked here and commented a few times. I'm Ingrid and I'm a nut lover/eater too, like every morning and maybe, sometimes, often throughout the day if I'm hungry. LOL! I prefer almonds in the morning but if I'm out I'll eat peanuts. I would eat some of my others but I try to save them for my baked goodies. :-) Have you tried Planters Kettle peanuts? Holy cow good!

I hope you can help! I made these last night. I did the caramel from scratch last night (1c sugar) and when I poured it into the sw cond milk it crackled into a hard crack! I ended up heating those cracked parts again to soften but they never liquidized. It turned out ok, I haven't found any bars with brittle in them but did I do something wrong? Thanks!

about vanilla sugar blog

Unique eats, creative recipes, as simple as possible.What drives me to create? Seeing dishes in restaurants, meals created on TV, recipes in cookbooks/online, and I always think to myself why didn’t they add this or why did they leave out that? Love to question, love to research, and love to learn about combining different flavors and textures in recipes.Recipe creations please email: vanillasugarblog@aol.com